It's good to be bad

[m_emerson_news]

Lost's Michael Emerson makes the most of villainy

By BILL HARRIS

Michael Emerson doesn't necessarily look like a classic TV bad guy.

But Emerson, who plays the enigmatic and duplicitous Ben Linus on Lost, has a theory about what makes a good villain.

“I think a good villain is a person who makes the audience question their own values.” -- Michael Emerson on his Lost character Ben Linus.

"I think a good villain is a person who makes the audience question their own values," Emerson said.

"The audience feels a little complicit, or has a little bit of that guilty feeling of, 'I know he's terrible, but I really like being with him.' "

So you're sayin' it's our fault? We're responsible for Ben's chicanery?

Emerson isn't going that far. But the notion of the audience being "in on it" goes back a long way.

"That's something I picked up in the playing of Shakespeare," said the 54-year-old Iowa native, who has an extensive theatre background.

"The reason Iago was such a successful villain in Othello is because he's the most charming man in the play. We like him, and the fact that he stands there and talks to us face-to-face and tells us everything he's going to do, it makes us accomplices."

Ben has a smarmy charm to him, although he certainly hasn't told the other characters on Lost -- let alone fans of the show -- what his ultimate goals are.

"One of the reasons they've settled on me for this part is I don't look like an imposing or dangerous person," Emerson said. "They like that tension between the mild exterior and the hidden agenda.

"But I think sometimes Ben's plan is chugging along so much the way he expects it, that it's not even exciting to him. He's just waiting for the next thing to fall into place. And it drives audiences crazy."

Lost, which airs Wednesdays (A, ABC) and tells the story of airplane-crash survivors on a mysterious island, occasionally has driven its fans crazy during the four-and-a-half-year run of the show. But with an end date having been set -- Lost will wrap up at the conclusion of its sixth season next year -- the story has been chugging along nicely in season No. 5.

"There's a lot of fireworks up their sleeve," Emerson said. "The stuff, to me, that's really hair-raising is yet to come this season."

As we spoke with Emerson last week, he was in California, taking advantage of a rare opportunity "to be in the same state as my wife," as he put it.

Lost films in Hawaii.

"I just finished filming a big all-Ben episode and I had a few days off because I have light duty on the following episode," Emerson said. "My wife and I try to get together every six months, whether we need it or not."

In a flashback sequence in Lost's third season, Emerson's wife Carrie Preston actually played the mother of a young Ben, making for a rather weird family circle.

Speaking of family, Emerson said simply being away from his clan has been his hardest adjustment since joining Lost in Season No. 2. Ben's role initially was a minor one, and Emerson thought he would be back on the New York theatre scene within a few weeks, but the audience's reaction obviously changed that.

"I can't remember what I was doing the day Lost called -- I should have written it down," Emerson said.

"The biggest change has just been the logistics of my life, working in the middle of the Pacific. Relatives and loved ones are growing old and changing without me being present. And I can't wait to get back to the stage.

"But one can't complain too much about having as high a visibility as I have, with a character as rich and rewarding as Ben. I do have the best of both worlds."


Source: Winnipeg Sun



  

Comments

[shalimar77777.livejournal.com]

Woah...every six months...

MMmm...oooookay. LOL

[buongiornodaisy.livejournal.com]

The life of an actor. So romantic.

No wonder they have such high divorce rates!

[angelin-kaulitz.livejournal.com]

every six month? awww i think he need a more younger girl.
well well well:)

[buongiornodaisy.livejournal.com]

mm, or it could be they're both actors with busy schedules?

[angelin-kaulitz.livejournal.com]

so busy that in age 54 and being 11 years in marriage he still haven't a child?
i think he should take a 3d wife :)

[buongiornodaisy.livejournal.com]

Does he want a kid? Because some people don't.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

In her myspace page, Carrie Preston said that she does not want children. Whether Michael Emerson wants one or not, he doesn't say. More than likely, he agreed with his wife's wishes.

[angelin-kaulitz.livejournal.com]

u have her myspace page? give me plz, it's interesting to read. btw Michael haven't? coz i look at facebook there is nothing, only fans fakes. i think Carrie too old now for have a children :)

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

I have seen her myspace account, yes. It is not an interesting read at all. (Sorry, Carrie.) She didn't update it since 2007 or 2006.

Carrie is 41, ging on 42. She can still bear children. She just doesn't want to. It's her rightAn,d if she discussed it with Michael and he agreed or he even felt the same way, then it is their right.

[angelin-kaulitz.livejournal.com]

oh then i find her page, really nothing special. btw do u know who was his first wife?

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

That's one of the most well kept secrets.

Did you get that icon from the Michael Emerson's web photogallery?

I made the icon. (I have no problems with you using it. I'm just commenting and feeling proud of my work. LOL)

[angelin-kaulitz.livejournal.com]

yeah, this is the best icon of Bens personality:) i adore it, thank u for your work, i'll credit in profile)

about the secret...mhm it's strange, and nowhere no information? well, then we need to ask him face to face LOL

[angelin-kaulitz.livejournal.com]

u think he doesn't? but whom he'll give his thing of talent then?

[buongiornodaisy.livejournal.com]

I don't know whether he does or whether he doesn't, but it's not unheard of for people not to want children, and it's not unusual/wrong for people not to want children. Some people make that choice due to their careers, or their confidence in how well they can raise a child, or on simple "do not want" principle. *shrugs* I don't think his marriage should be judged negatively merely because there haven't been any children.

[angelin-kaulitz.livejournal.com]

yeap, u're absolutley right, it's his own choice. but he is such kind of person whom i can call "brilliant" and it will be sad if his great part of work and talent end with his days. but everything good in it's time, on it's places.

[buongiornodaisy.livejournal.com]

Well, to be fair, talent isn't genetic. Michael Emerson is a great actor, but his hypothetical kids might be the worst ever. XD

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

Amen. You are oh so correct.

[arcadiaego.livejournal.com]

Six months, seriously? (He didn't mean six weeks?) Blimey. I wouldn't want that job...

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

I hope that he meant 6 weeks. But even that is a hardship. But as long as they are OK with that, who are we to judge?

[arcadiaego.livejournal.com]

I was just shocked because I didn't realise the shows would take one away for that amount of time! I really do hate it when people pass judgment on them without knowing either personally. But I'm not going to get on to that subject. :)

[buongiornodaisy.livejournal.com]

You can have a big fat "word" from me, on that.